Inter-layer reference picture restriction for high level syntax-only scalable video coding

ABSTRACT

In one implementation, an apparatus is provided for encoding or decoding video information. The apparatus comprises a memory unit configured to store reference layer pictures associated with a reference layer, an enhancement layer, or both. The apparatus further comprises a processor operationally coupled to the memory unit. In one embodiment, the processor is configured to restrict usage of at most one reference layer pictures that has a different spatial resolution than a current picture as an inter-layer reference picture, and predict the current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional No. 61/809,804, filed Apr. 8, 2013 and U.S. Provisional No. 61/807,283, filed Apr. 1, 2013, both of which are incorporated by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

This disclosure is related to the field of video coding and compression. In particular, it is related to scalable video coding (SVC), including SVC for High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Scalable HEVC (SHVC), and HEVC-based SHVC (HEVC-SHVC).

2. Description of the Related Art

Digital video capabilities can be incorporated into a wide range of devices, including digital televisions, digital direct broadcast systems, wireless broadcast systems, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop or desktop computers, tablet computers, e-book readers, digital cameras, digital recording devices, digital media players, video gaming devices, video game consoles, cellular or satellite radio telephones, so-called “smart phones,” video teleconferencing devices, video streaming devices, and the like. Digital video devices implement video coding techniques, such as those described in the standards defined by MPEG-2, MPEG-4, ITU-T H.263, ITU-T H.264/MPEG-4, Part 10, Advanced Video Coding (AVC), the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard presently under development, and extensions of such standards. The video devices may transmit, receive, encode, decode, and/or store digital video information more efficiently by implementing such video coding techniques.

Video coding techniques include spatial (intra-picture) prediction and/or temporal (inter-picture) prediction to reduce or remove redundancy inherent in video sequences. For block-based video coding, a video slice (e.g., a video frame or a portion of a video frame) may be partitioned into video blocks, which may also be referred to as treeblocks, coding units (CUs) and/or coding nodes. Video blocks in an intra-coded (I) slice of a picture are encoded using spatial prediction with respect to reference samples in neighboring blocks in the same picture. Video blocks in an inter-coded (P or B) slice of a picture may use spatial prediction with respect to reference samples in neighboring blocks in the same picture or temporal prediction with respect to reference samples in other reference pictures. Pictures may be referred to as frames, and reference pictures may be referred to a reference frames.

Spatial or temporal prediction results in a predictive block for a block to be coded. Residual data represents pixel differences between the original block to be coded and the predictive block. An inter-coded block is encoded according to a motion vector that points to a block of reference samples forming the predictive block, and the residual data indicating the difference between the coded block and the predictive block. An intra-coded block is encoded according to an intra-coding mode and the residual data. For further compression, the residual data may be transformed from the pixel domain to a transform domain, resulting in residual transform coefficients, which then may be quantized. The quantized transform coefficients, initially arranged in a two-dimensional array, may be scanned in order to produce a one-dimensional vector of transform coefficients, and entropy coding may be applied to achieve even more compression.

High level syntax-only scalable video coding enables video blocks in a current layer to be predicted using video blocks from a reference layer without introducing low-level changes to the HEVC coding specification. For example, HLS-only SVC enables such coding by using existing inter coding techniques with reference layers from the same access unit of the current layer. Current techniques enable multiple reference layers to be identified for possible use in inter-layer coding. However, it would be advantageous to be able to restrict inter-layer coding such that, at most, only one reference layer is able to be identified as an inter-layer reference layer. Selectivly restricting inter-layer coding (e.g., inter-layer prediction) such that only one reference layer is able to be used as an inter-layer reference layer can improve coding performance, and reduce implementation complexity as well as implementation cost.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In general, this disclosure describes techniques related to scalable video coding (SHVC, SVC). The techniques described below provide a mechanism to indicate whether inter-layer syntax prediction (including motion information) is allowed for specific base layer codecs (e.g., HEVC, etc.).

In one implementation, an apparatus is provided for encoding or decoding video information. The apparatus comprises a memory unit configured to store video information and/or reference layer pictures associated with a base layer, an enhancement layer, or both. The apparatus further comprises a processor operationally coupled to the memory unit. The processor is configured to restrict usage of at most one reference layer picture as an inter-layer reference picture to determine a value of a video unit in the enhancement layer.

In one embodiment, an apparatus configured to code video information includes a memory unit and a processor. The memory unit configured to store reference layer pictures associated with a base layer, an enhancement layer, or both. The processor is operationally coupled to the memory unit and is configured to restrict usage of at most one reference layer pictures that has been resampled as an inter-layer reference picture, and predict a current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.

In another embodiment, a method of decoding video information includes: providing a restriction that at most one resampled reference layer picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture; determining the at most one resampled reference layer picture to use as the inter-layer reference picture; and decoding a current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.

In another embodiment, a method of encoding video information includes: providing a restriction that at most one resampled reference layer picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture; determining the at most one resampled reference layer picture to use as the inter-layer reference picture; and encoding a current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.

In another embodiment, an apparatus for coding video information includes: means for providing a restriction that at most one resampled reference layer picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture; means for determining the at most one resampled reference layer picture to use as the inter-layer reference picture; and means for predicting a current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.

In another embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable medium includes specific instructions that when executed on a processor comprising computing hardware cause the processor to: provide a restriction that at most one resampled reference layer picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture; determine the at most one resampled reference layer picture to use as the inter-layer reference picture; and predict a current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.

In another embodiment, an apparatus configured to code video information includes a memory and a processor. The memory unit is configured to store reference layer pictures associated with a base layer, an enhancement layer, or both. The processor is operationally coupled to the memory unit and configured to restrict usage of at most one reference layer pictures that has a different spatial resolution than a current picture as an inter-layer reference picture, and predict the current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.

In another embodiment, a method of decoding video information includes: providing a restriction that at most one reference layer picture having a different spatial resolution than a current picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture; determining the at most one reference layer picture to use as the inter-layer reference picture; and decoding a current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.

In another embodiment, a method of encoding video information includes: providing a restriction that at most one resampled reference layer picture having a different spatial resolution than a current picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture; determining the at most one reference layer picture to use as the inter-layer reference picture; and encoding a current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.

In another embodiment, an apparatus for coding video information includes: means for providing a restriction that at most one reference layer picture having a different spatial resolution than a current picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture; means for determining the at most one reference layer picture to use as the inter-layer reference picture; and means for predicting the current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.

In another embodiment, a non-transitory computer readable medium includes specific instructions that when executed on a processor comprising computing hardware cause the processor to: provide a restriction that at most one reference layer picture having a different spatial resolution than a current picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture; determine the at most one reference layer picture to use as the inter-layer reference picture; and predict the current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.

The details of one or more examples are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below, which are not intended to limit the full scope of the inventive concepts described herein. Other features, objects, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Throughout the drawings, reference numbers may be re-used to indicate correspondence between referenced elements. The drawings are provided to illustrate example embodiments described herein and are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example video encoding and decoding system that may utilize techniques in accordance with aspects described in this disclosure.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an example of a video encoder that may implement techniques in accordance with aspects described in this disclosure.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an example of a video encoder that may implement techniques in accordance with aspects described in this disclosure.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating an example of a video decoder that may implement techniques in accordance with aspects described in this disclosure.

FIG. 3B is a block diagram illustrating an example of a video decoder that may implement techniques in accordance with aspects described in this disclosure.

FIGS. 4-6 are flowcharts illustrating embodiments of methods of inter-layer reference picture restriction according to aspects of this disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

The techniques described in this disclosure generally relate to scalable video coding (SHVC, SVC) and multiview/3D video coding. For example, the techniques may be related to, and used with or within, a High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) scalable video coding (SVC, sometimes referred to as SHVC) extension. In an SHVC, SVC extension, there could be multiple layers of video information. The layer at the very bottom level may serve as a base layer (BL), and the layer at the very top (or the highest layer) may serve as an enhanced layer (EL). The “enhanced layer” is sometimes referred to as an “enhancement layer,” and these terms may be used interchangeably. The base layer is sometimes referred to as a “reference layer,” (RL) and these terms may also be used interchangeably. All layers in between the base layer and the top layer may serve as either or both ELs or reference layers (RLs). For example, a layer in the middle may be an EL for the layers below it, such as the base layer or any intervening enhancement layers, and at the same time serve as a RL for the enhancement layers above it. Each layer in between the base layer and the top layer (or the highest layer) is may be used as a reference for inter-layer prediction by a higher layer and may use a lower layer as a reference for inter-layer prediction.

For simplicity, examples are presented in terms of just two layers: a BL and an EL; however, it should be well understood that the ideas and embodiments described below are applicable to cases with multiple layers, as well. In addition, for ease of explanation, the terms “frames” or “blocks” are often used. However, these terms are not meant to be limiting. For example, the techniques described below can be used with any of a variety of video units, including but not limited to pixels, blocks (e.g., CU, PU, TU, macroblocks, etc.), slices, frames, etc.

Video Coding

Video coding standards include ITU-T H.261, ISO/IEC MPEG-1 Visual, ITU-T H.262 or ISO/IEC MPEG-2 Visual, ITU-T H.263, ISO/IEC MPEG-4 Visual and ITU-T H.264 (also known as ISO/IEC MPEG-4 AVC), including its Scalable Video Coding (SVC) and Multi-view Video Coding (MVC) extensions. The latest joint draft of SVC and MVC is described in “Advanced video coding for generic audiovisual services,” ITU-T Recommendation H.264, March 2010, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.

In addition, there is a new video coding standard, High-Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), being developed by the Joint Collaboration Team on Video Coding (JCT-VC) of ITU-T Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) and ISO/IEC Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG). A recent Working Draft (WD) of HEVC, is available at http://phenix.int-evry.fr/jct/doc_end_user/documents/12_Genev a/wg11/JCTVC-L1003-v20 zip. Another version of the draft is available at http://phenix.int-evry.fr/jct/doc_end_user/documents/11_Shanghai/wg11/JCTVC-K1003-v13.zip. Another working draft of HEVC, referred to as HEVC WD8 (or WD8) is available at http://phenix.int-evey.fr/jct/doc_end_user/documents/10_Stockholm/wg11/JCTVC-J1003-v8.zip. Another Working Draft of HEVC, and referred to as HEVC WD7 hereinafter, is available from http://phenix.int-evry.fr/jct/doc_end_user/documents/9 Geneva/wg11/JCTVC-11003-v5.zip. All of these documents are incorporated by reference in their entireties.

In SVC, video information may be provided as multiple layers. The layer at the very bottom level can just serve as a base layer (BL) and the layer at the very top level can serve as an enhancement layer (EL). All the layers between the top and bottom layers may serve as both enhancement layers and base layers. For example, a layer in the middle can be an EL for the layers below it, and at the same time as a BL for the layers above it. For simplicity of description, we can assume that there are two layers, a BL and an EL, in illustrating the techniques described below. However, all the techniques described herein are applicable to cases with multiple (more than two) layers, as well.

Scalable video coding (SVC) may be used to provide quality (also referred to as signal-to-noise (SNR)) scalability, spatial scalability and/or temporal scalability. For example, in one embodiment, a reference layer (e.g., a base layer) includes video information sufficient to display a video at a first quality level and the enhancement layer includes additional video information relative to the reference layer such that the reference layer and the enhancement layer together include video information sufficient to display the video at a second quality level higher than the first level (e.g., less noise, greater resolution, better frame rate, etc.). An enhanced layer may have different spatial resolution than a base layer. For example, the spatial aspect ratio between EL and BL can be 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 or other different ratios. In other words, the spatial aspect of the EL may equal 1.0, 1.5, or 2.0 times the spatial aspect of the BL. In some examples, the scaling factor of the EL may be greater than the BL. For example, a size of pictures in the EL may be greater than a size of pictures in the BL. In this way, it may be possible, although not a limitation, that the spatial resolution of the EL is larger than the spatial resolution of the BL.

In the SVC extension for H.264, prediction of a current block may be performed using the different layers that are provided for SVC. Such prediction may be referred to as inter-layer prediction. Inter-layer prediction methods may be utilized in SVC in order to reduce inter-layer redundancy. Some examples of inter-layer prediction may include inter-layer intra prediction, inter-layer motion prediction, and inter-layer residual prediction. Inter-layer intra prediction uses the reconstruction of co-located blocks in the base layer to predict the current block in the enhancement layer. Inter-layer motion prediction uses motion information (including motion vectors) of the base layer to predict motion in the enhancement layer. Inter-layer residual prediction uses the residue of the base layer to predict the residue of the enhancement layer.

In some embodiments of inter-layer motion prediction, the motion data (including motion vectors) of the base layer (e.g., for the co-located block) may be used to predict the current block in the enhancement layer. For example, while coding a video unit in an enhancement layer, video coders can use information from a reference layer to obtain additional motion compensation data that can be used to identify additional hypotheses. As these additional hypotheses are implicitly derived from data already existing data in a video bitstream, additional performance in video coding can be gained with little or no additional cost in bitstream size. In another example, motion information from spatially neighboring video units can be used to locate additional hypothesis. The derived hypothesis can then be averaged or otherwise combined with explicitly encoded hypothesis to generate a better prediction of a value of a video unit. In certain situations, such as when the spatial resolution of the base (or reference) layer is different than the spatial resolution of the current block's layer, the base layer motion information is spatially scaled prior to being used to encode or decode the current block. Likewise, the position of a block in a base (or reference) layer may be determined by inter-layer position mapping, as described below, when the layer has a different spatial resolution than the current block's layer.

High Level Syntax (HLS)-Only HEVC Based Scalable Coding

High level syntax (HLS) only HEVC-SHVC can be achieved by inserting a reference layer reconstructed picture into the reference picture lists for the current enhancement layer (EL) picture coding. If the current layer and its reference layer have the same spatial resolution, SHVC can be supported similar to MV-HEVC (multi-view HEVC), where the inserted picture is from another view (see “MV-HEVC Working Draft 1,” JCT3V-C1004, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety). Additionally, the inserted picture can be used as a collocated picture for TMVP (temporal motion vector predictor) derivation without additional processing.

In the spatial scalability case, the current picture has or can have a different spatial resolution than the reference layer picture. For example, the spatial aspect ratio between a current picture and a reference picture can be 1.5, 2.0 or other different ratio. In this case, the reference layer picture will be up-sampled to match the picture size of the current decoded picture before inserting it into the reference picture lists for current picture coding. When spatial aspect ratios between the current and reference pictures differ, both pixel and non-pixel information (syntax, modes and mode parameters) of the reference picture are up-sampled to enable both texture and motion prediction. This technique has been applied in the emerging scalable video extension for HEVC (SHVC) standard (“SHVC test model 1,” JCTVC-L1007, “SHVC working draft 1 “JCTVC-L1008”, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety).

In the current SHVC test model, the following syntax is used to indicate direct reference layers that may be used for inter-layer prediction:

for( i = 1; i <= vps_max_layers_minus1; i++ )  for( j = 0; j < i; j++ )   direct_dependency_flag[ i ][ j ] u(1)

When direct_dependency_flag[i][j] equals 0, this specifies that the layer with index j is not a direct reference layer for the layer with index i. When direct_dependency_flag[i][j] equals 1, this specifies that the layer with index j may be a direct reference layer for the layer with index i. When direct_dependency_flag[i][j] is not present for i and j in the range of 0 to vps_max_layers_minus1, it is inferred to be equal to 0.

In addition, the variable NumDirectRefLayers[i] specifies the number for direct reference layers with nuh_layerID equal to i, and the variable RefLayerld[i][j] specifies the layer_id of each reference layer for the layer with nuh_layerID equal to i. These variable are derived as follows:

for( i = 1; i <= vps_max_layers_minus1; i++ )  for( j = 0, NumDirectRefLayers[ i ] = 0; j < i; j++ )   if( direct_dependency_flag[ i ][ j ] = = 1 )    RefLayerId[ i ][ NumDirectRefLayers[ i ]++ ] =    layer_id_in_nuh[ j ]

In multi-view HEVC (MV-HEVC), the list inter-layer reference picture set RefPicSetInterLayer is constructed by directly using the decoded pictures of the reference layer pictures, as follows:

for( i = 0; i < NumDirectRefLayers[ LayerIdInVps[ nuh_layer_id ] ]; i++ ) {  RefPicSetInterLayer[ i ] = the picture with picture order count equal to   PicOrderCnt and nuh_layer_id equal to RefLayerId[   LayerIdInVps[ nuh_layer_id ][ i ] ]  RefPicSetInterLayer[ i ] is marked as “used for long-term reference” }

In SHVC, the list inter-layer reference picture set RefPicSetInterLayer is composed of the resampled reference layer pictures, as follows:

for( i = 0; i < NumDirectRefLayers[ LayerIdInVps[ currLayerId ] ]; i++ ) {  rlPic = the picture with picture order count equal to PicOrderCnt and   nuh_layer_id equal to RefLayerId[ LayerIdInVps[ currLayerId ][   i ] ]  RefPicSetInterLayer[ i ] = rsPic as derived in by the clause G.8.1.4 (of the SHVC draft standard) with rlPic given as input  rsPic is marked as “used for long-term reference” } where G.8.1.4 is the Resampling process for inter-layer reference pictures.

However, as mentioned above, in the current SHVC and MV-HEVC working draft, it is allowed to use multiple reference layer pictures in connection with an inter-layer prediction process. Compared to employing one reference layer picture for inter-layer prediction, this technique might be considered to provide coding performance improvement for MV-HEVC with very low complexity impact. However, this technique of employing multiple reference layer pictures is unlikely to improve the coding performance since the nearest reference layer picture typically has relatively better quantity and/or quality and the ability to provide the best prediction efficiency. Moreover, the complexity of the SHVC decoding process is increased when multiple reference layer pictures are used for inter-layer prediction, because with multiple reference layer pictures, the picture resampling process would need to be performed multiple times to decode the current picture.

In H.264 SVC extension, there is restriction that only one particular reference layer picture can be used for inter-layer prediction for a current picture. The following syntax element is signaled in the slice header:

-   -   ref_layer_dq_id specifies the layer representation (e.g.,         representing a picture) inside the current coded picture (e.g.,         representing an access unit) that is used for inter-layer         prediction of the current layer representation (e.g.,         representing the current picture). When present, the value of         ref_layer_dq_id is in the range of 0 to DQId−1, inclusive.

The variable DQId is derived by:

DQId=(dependency_id<<4)+quality_id

where dependency_id specifies a dependency identifier for the NAL unit, and quality_id specifies a quality identifier for the NAL unit.

Various aspects of the novel systems, apparatuses, and methods are described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to any specific structure or function presented throughout this disclosure. Rather, these aspects are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. Based on the teachings herein one skilled in the art should appreciate that the scope of the disclosure is intended to cover any aspect of the novel systems, apparatuses, and methods disclosed herein, whether implemented independently of, or combined with, any other aspect of the invention. For example, an apparatus may be implemented or a method may be practiced using any number of the aspects set forth herein. In addition, the scope of the invention is intended to cover such an apparatus or method which is practiced using other structure, functionality, or structure and functionality in addition to or other than the various aspects of the invention set forth herein. It should be understood that any aspect disclosed herein may be embodied by one or more elements of a claim.

Although particular aspects are described herein, many variations and permutations of these aspects fall within the scope of the disclosure. Although some benefits and advantages of the preferred aspects are mentioned, the scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited to particular benefits, uses, or objectives. Rather, aspects of the disclosure are intended to be broadly applicable to different wireless technologies, system configurations, networks, and transmission protocols, some of which are illustrated by way of example in the figures and in the following description of the preferred aspects. The detailed description and drawings are merely illustrative of the disclosure rather than limiting, the scope of the disclosure being defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Video Coding System

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates an example video coding system 10 that may utilize techniques in accordance with aspects described in this disclosure. As used described herein, the term “video coder” refers generically to both video encoders and video decoders. In this disclosure, the terms “video coding” or “coding” may refer generically to video encoding and video decoding.

As shown in FIG. 1, video coding system 10 includes a source device 12 and a destination device 14. Source device 12 generates encoded video data. Destination device 14 may decode the encoded video data generated by source device 12. Source device 12 can provide the video data to the destination device 14 via a computer-readable medium 16. Source device 12 and destination device 14 may include a wide range of devices, including desktop computers, notebook (e.g., laptop) computers, tablet computers, set-top boxes, telephone handsets, such as so-called “smart” phones, so-called “smart” pads, televisions, cameras, display devices, digital media players, video gaming consoles, in-car computers, video streaming devices, or the like. Source device 12 and destination device 14 may be equipped for wireless communication.

Destination device 14 may receive the encoded video data to be decoded via computer-readable medium 16. Computer-readable medium 16 may comprise a type of medium or device capable of moving the encoded video data from source device 12 to destination device 14. For example, computer-readable medium 16 may comprise a communication medium to enable source device 12 to transmit encoded video data directly to destination device 14 in real-time. The encoded video data may be modulated according to a communication standard, such as a wireless communication protocol, and transmitted to destination device 14. The communication medium may comprise a wireless or wired communication medium, such as a radio frequency (RF) spectrum or one or more physical transmission lines. The communication medium may form part of a packet-based network, such as a local area network, a wide-area network, or a global network, such as the Internet. The communication medium may include routers, switches, base stations, or other equipment that may be useful to facilitate communication from source device 12 to destination device 14.

In some embodiments, encoded data may be output from output interface 22 to a storage device. Similarly, encoded data may be accessed from the storage device by input interface. The storage device may include any of a variety of distributed or locally accessed data storage media such as a hard drive, Blu-ray discs, DVDs, CD-ROMs, flash memory, volatile or non-volatile memory, or other digital storage media for storing video data. The storage device may correspond to a file server or another intermediate storage device that may store the encoded video generated by source device 12. Destination device 14 may access stored video data from the storage device via streaming or download. The file server may be a type of server capable of storing encoded video data and transmitting that encoded video data to the destination device 14. Example file servers include a web server (e.g., for a website), an FTP server, network attached storage (NAS) devices, or a local disk drive. Destination device 14 may access the encoded video data through a standard data connection, including an Internet connection. This may include a wireless channel (e.g., a Wi-Fi connection), a wired connection (e.g., DSL, cable modem, etc.), or a combination of both that is suitable for accessing encoded video data stored on a file server. The transmission of encoded video data from the storage device may be a streaming transmission, a download transmission, or a combination thereof.

The techniques of this disclosure can apply applications or settings in addition to wireless applications or settings. The techniques may be applied to video coding in support of a of a variety of multimedia applications, such as over-the-air television broadcasts, cable television transmissions, satellite television transmissions, Internet streaming video transmissions, such as dynamic adaptive streaming over HTTP (DASH), digital video that is encoded onto a data storage medium, decoding of digital video stored on a data storage medium, or other applications. In some embodiments, system 10 may be configured to support one-way or two-way video transmission to support applications such as video streaming, video playback, video broadcasting, and/or video telephony.

In FIG. 1, source device 12 includes video source 18, video encoder 20, and output interface 22. Destination device 14 includes input interface 28, video decoder 30, and display device 32. Video encoder 20 of source device 12 may be configured to apply the techniques for coding a bitstream including video data conforming to multiple standards or standard extensions. In other embodiments, a source device and a destination device may include other components or arrangements. For example, source device 12 may receive video data from an external video source 18, such as an external camera. Likewise, destination device 14 may interface with an external display device, rather than including an integrated display device.

Video source 18 of source device 12 may include a video capture device, such as a video camera, a video archive containing previously captured video, and/or a video feed interface to receive video from a video content provider. Video source 18 may generate computer graphics-based data as the source video, or a combination of live video, archived video, and computer-generated video. In some embodiments, if video source 18 is a video camera, source device 12 and destination device 14 may form so-called camera phones or video phones. The captured, pre-captured, or computer-generated video may be encoded by video encoder 20. The encoded video information may be output by output interface 22 to a computer-readable medium 16.

Computer-readable medium 16 may include transient media, such as a wireless broadcast or wired network transmission, or storage media (e.g., non-transitory storage media), such as a hard disk, flash drive, compact disc, digital video disc, Blu-ray disc, or other computer-readable media. A network server (not shown) may receive encoded video data from source device 12 and provide the encoded video data to destination device 14 (e.g., via network transmission). A computing device of a medium production facility, such as a disc stamping facility, may receive encoded video data from source device 12 and produce a disc containing the encoded video data. Therefore, computer-readable medium 16 may be understood to include one or more computer-readable media of various forms.

Input interface 28 of destination device 14 can receive information from computer-readable medium 16. The information of computer-readable medium 16 may include syntax information defined by video encoder 20, which can be used by video decoder 30, that includes syntax elements that describe characteristics and/or processing of blocks and other coded units, e.g., GOPs. Display device 32 displays the decoded video data to a user, and may include any of a variety of display devices such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display, an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, or another type of display device.

Video encoder 20 and video decoder 30 may operate according to a video coding standard, such as the High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard presently under development, and may conform to the HEVC Test Model (HM). Alternatively, video encoder 20 and video decoder 30 may operate according to other proprietary or industry standards, such as the ITU-T H.264 standard, alternatively referred to as MPEG-4, Part 10, Advanced Video Coding (AVC), or extensions of such standards. The techniques of this disclosure, however, are not limited to any particular coding standard. Other examples of video coding standards include MPEG-2 and ITU-T H.263. Although not shown in FIG. 1, in some aspects, video encoder 20 and video decoder 30 may each be integrated with an audio encoder and decoder, and may include appropriate MUX-DEMUX units, or other hardware and software, to handle encoding of both audio and video in a common data stream or separate data streams. If applicable, MUX-DEMUX units may conform to the ITU H.223 multiplexer protocol, or other protocols such as the user datagram protocol (UDP).

FIG. 1 is merely an example and the techniques of this disclosure may apply to video coding settings (e.g., video encoding or video decoding) that do not necessarily include any data communication between the encoding and decoding devices. In other examples, data can be retrieved from a local memory, streamed over a network, or the like. An encoding device may encode and store data to memory, and/or a decoding device may retrieve and decode data from memory. In many examples, the encoding and decoding is performed by devices that do not communicate with one another, but simply encode data to memory and/or retrieve and decode data from memory.

Video encoder 20 and video decoder 30 each may be implemented as any of a variety of suitable encoder circuitry, such as one or more microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), discrete logic, software, hardware, firmware or any combinations thereof. When the techniques are implemented partially in software, a device may store instructions for the software in a non-transitory computer-readable medium and execute the instructions in hardware using one or more processors to perform the techniques of this disclosure. Each of video encoder 20 and video decoder 30 may be included in one or more encoders or decoders, either of which may be integrated as part of a combined encoder/decoder (CODEC) in a respective device. A device including video encoder 20 and/or video decoder 30 may comprise an integrated circuit, a microprocessor, and/or a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone.

The JCT-VC is working on development of the HEVC standard. The HEVC standardization efforts are based on an evolving model of a video coding device referred to as the HEVC Test Model (HM). The HM presumes several additional capabilities of video coding devices relative to existing devices according to, e.g., ITU-T H.264/AVC. For example, whereas H.264 provides nine intra-prediction encoding modes, the HM may provide as many as thirty-three intra-prediction encoding modes.

In general, the working model of the HM describes that a video frame or picture may be divided into a sequence of treeblocks or largest coding units (LCU) that include both luma and chroma samples. Syntax data within a bitstream may define a size for the LCU, which is a largest coding unit in terms of the number of pixels. A slice includes a number of consecutive treeblocks in coding order. A video frame or picture may be partitioned into one or more slices. Each treeblock may be split into coding units (CUs) according to a quadtree. In general, a quadtree data structure includes one node per CU, with a root node corresponding to the treeblock. If a CU is split into four sub-CUs, the node corresponding to the CU includes four leaf nodes, each of which corresponds to one of the sub-CUs.

Each node of the quadtree data structure may provide syntax data for the corresponding CU. For example, a node in the quadtree may include a split flag, indicating whether the CU corresponding to the node is split into sub-CUs. Syntax elements for a CU may be defined recursively, and may depend on whether the CU is split into sub-CUs. If a CU is not split further, it is referred as a leaf-CU. In this disclosure, four sub-CUs of a leaf-CU will also be referred to as leaf-CUs even if there is no explicit splitting of the original leaf-CU. For example, if a CU at 16×16 size is not split further, the four 8×8 sub-CUs will also be referred to as leaf-CUs although the 16×16 CU was never split.

A CU has a similar purpose as a macroblock of the H.264 standard, except that a CU does not have a size distinction. For example, a treeblock may be split into four child nodes (also referred to as sub-CUs), and each child node may in turn be a parent node and be split into another four child nodes. A final, unsplit child node, referred to as a leaf node of the quadtree, comprises a coding node, also referred to as a leaf-CU. Syntax data associated with a coded bitstream may define a maximum number of times a treeblock may be split, referred to as a maximum CU depth, and may also define a minimum size of the coding nodes. Accordingly, a bitstream may also define a smallest coding unit (SCU). This disclosure uses the term “block” to refer to any of a CU, PU, or TU, in the context of HEVC, or similar data structures in the context of other standards (e.g., macroblocks and sub-blocks thereof in H.264/AVC).

A CU includes a coding node and prediction units (PUs) and transform units (TUs) associated with the coding node. A size of the CU corresponds to a size of the coding node and must be square in shape. The size of the CU may range from 8×8 pixels up to the size of the treeblock with a maximum of 64×64 pixels or greater. Each CU may contain one or more PUs and one or more TUs. Syntax data associated with a CU may describe, for example, partitioning of the CU into one or more PUs. Partitioning modes may differ between whether the CU is skip or direct mode encoded, intra-prediction mode encoded, or inter-prediction mode encoded. PUs may be partitioned to be non-square in shape. Syntax data associated with a CU may also describe, for example, partitioning of the CU into one or more TUs according to a quadtree. A TU can be square or non-square (e.g., rectangular) in shape.

The HEVC standard allows for transformations according to TUs, which may be different for different CUs. The TUs are typically sized based on the size of PUs within a given CU defined for a partitioned LCU, although this may not always be the case. The TUs are typically the same size or smaller than the PUs. In some examples, residual samples corresponding to a CU may be subdivided into smaller units using a quadtree structure known as “residual quad tree” (RQT). The leaf nodes of the RQT may be referred to as transform units (TUs). Pixel difference values associated with the TUs may be transformed to produce transform coefficients, which may be quantized.

A leaf-CU may include one or more prediction units (PUs). In general, a PU represents a spatial area corresponding to all or a portion of the corresponding CU, and may include data for retrieving a reference sample for the PU. Moreover, a PU includes data related to prediction. For example, when the PU is intra-mode encoded, data for the PU may be included in a residual quadtree (RQT), which may include data describing an intra-prediction mode for a TU corresponding to the PU. As another example, when the PU is inter-mode encoded, the PU may include data defining one or more motion vectors for the PU. The data defining the motion vector for a PU may describe, for example, a horizontal component of the motion vector, a vertical component of the motion vector, a resolution for the motion vector (e.g., one-quarter pixel precision or one-eighth pixel precision), a reference picture to which the motion vector points, and/or a reference picture list (e.g., List 0, List 1, or List C) for the motion vector.

A leaf-CU having one or more PUs may also include one or more transform units (TUs). The transform units may be specified using an RQT (also referred to as a TU quadtree structure), as discussed above. For example, a split flag may indicate whether a leaf-CU is split into four transform units. Then, each transform unit may be split further into further sub-TUs. When a TU is not split further, it may be referred to as a leaf-TU. Generally, for intra coding, all the leaf-TUs belonging to a leaf-CU share the same intra prediction mode. That is, the same intra-prediction mode is generally applied to calculate predicted values for all TUs of a leaf-CU. For intra coding, a video encoder may calculate a residual value for each leaf-TU using the intra prediction mode, as a difference between the portion of the CU corresponding to the TU and the original block. A TU is not necessarily limited to the size of a PU. Thus, TUs may be larger or smaller than a PU. For intra coding, a PU may be collocated with a corresponding leaf-TU for the same CU. In some examples, the maximum size of a leaf-TU may correspond to the size of the corresponding leaf-CU.

Moreover, TUs of leaf-CUs may also be associated with respective quadtree data structures, referred to as residual quadtrees (RQTs). That is, a leaf-CU may include a quadtree indicating how the leaf-CU is partitioned into TUs. The root node of a TU quadtree generally corresponds to a leaf-CU, while the root node of a CU quadtree generally corresponds to a treeblock (or LCU). TUs of the RQT that are not split are referred to as leaf-TUs. In general, this disclosure uses the terms CU and TU to refer to leaf-CU and leaf-TU, respectively, unless noted otherwise.

A video sequence typically includes a series of video frames or pictures. A group of pictures (GOP) generally comprises a series of one or more of the video pictures. A GOP may include syntax data in a header of the GOP, a header of one or more of the pictures, or elsewhere, that describes a number of pictures included in the GOP. Each slice of a picture may include slice syntax data that describes an encoding mode for the respective slice. Video encoder 20 typically operates on video blocks within individual video slices in order to encode the video data. A video block may correspond to a coding node within a CU. The video blocks may have fixed or varying sizes, and may differ in size according to a specified coding standard.

As an example, the HM supports prediction in various PU sizes. Assuming that the size of a particular CU is 2N×2N, the HM supports intra-prediction in PU sizes of 2N×2N or N×N, and inter-prediction in symmetric PU sizes of 2N×2N, 2N×N, N×2N, or N×N. The HM also supports asymmetric partitioning for inter-prediction in PU sizes of 2N×nU, 2N×nD, nL×2N, and nR×2N. In asymmetric partitioning, one direction of a CU is not partitioned, while the other direction is partitioned into 25% and 75%. The portion of the CU corresponding to the 25% partition is indicated by an “n” followed by an indication of “Up”, “Down,” “Left,” or “Right.” Thus, for example, “2N×nU” refers to a 2N×2N CU that is partitioned horizontally with a 2N×0.5N PU on top and a 2N×1.5N PU on bottom.

In this disclosure, “N×N” and “N by N” may be used interchangeably to refer to the pixel dimensions of a video block in terms of vertical and horizontal dimensions, e.g., 16×16 pixels or 16 by 16 pixels. In general, a 16×16 block will have 16 pixels in a vertical direction (y=16) and 16 pixels in a horizontal direction (x=16). Likewise, an N×N block generally has N pixels in a vertical direction and N pixels in a horizontal direction, where N represents a nonnegative integer value. The pixels in a block may be arranged in rows and columns. Moreover, blocks need not necessarily have the same number of pixels in the horizontal direction as in the vertical direction. For example, blocks may comprise N×M pixels, where M is not necessarily equal to N.

Following intra-predictive or inter-predictive coding using the PUs of a CU, video encoder 20 may calculate residual data for the TUs of the CU. The PUs may comprise syntax data describing a method or mode of generating predictive pixel data in the spatial domain (also referred to as the pixel domain) and the TUs may comprise coefficients in the transform domain following application of a transform, e.g., a discrete sine transform (DST), a discrete cosine transform (DCT), an integer transform, a wavelet transform, or a conceptually similar transform to residual video data. The residual data may correspond to pixel differences between pixels of the unencoded picture and prediction values corresponding to the PUs. Video encoder 20 may form the TUs including the residual data for the CU, and then transform the TUs to produce transform coefficients for the CU.

Following any transforms to produce transform coefficients, video encoder 20 may perform quantization of the transform coefficients. Quantization is a broad term intended to have its broadest ordinary meaning. In one embodiment, quantization refers to a process in which transform coefficients are quantized to possibly reduce the amount of data used to represent the coefficients, providing further compression. The quantization process may reduce the bit depth associated with some or all of the coefficients. For example, an n-bit value may be rounded down to an m-bit value during quantization, where n is greater than m.

Following quantization, the video encoder may scan the transform coefficients, producing a one-dimensional vector from the two-dimensional matrix including the quantized transform coefficients. The scan may be designed to place higher energy (and therefore lower frequency) coefficients at the front of the array and to place lower energy (and therefore higher frequency) coefficients at the back of the array. In some examples, video encoder 20 may utilize a predefined scan order to scan the quantized transform coefficients to produce a serialized vector that can be entropy encoded. In other examples, video encoder 20 may perform an adaptive scan. After scanning the quantized transform coefficients to form a one-dimensional vector, video encoder 20 may entropy encode the one-dimensional vector, e.g., according to context-adaptive variable length coding (CAVLC), context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC), syntax-based context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (SBAC), Probability Interval Partitioning Entropy (PIPE) coding or another entropy encoding methodology. Video encoder 20 may also entropy encode syntax elements associated with the encoded video data for use by video decoder 30 in decoding the video data.

To perform CABAC, video encoder 20 may assign a context within a context model to a symbol to be transmitted. The context may relate to, for example, whether neighboring values of the symbol are non-zero or not. To perform CAVLC, video encoder 20 may select a variable length code for a symbol to be transmitted. Codewords in VLC may be constructed such that relatively shorter codes correspond to more probable symbols, while longer codes correspond to less probable symbols. In this way, the use of VLC may achieve a bit savings over, for example, using equal-length codewords for each symbol to be transmitted. The probability determination may be based on a context assigned to the symbol.

Video encoder 20 may further send syntax data, such as block-based syntax data, frame-based syntax data, and GOP-based syntax data, to video decoder 30, e.g., in a frame header, a block header, a slice header, or a GOP header. The GOP syntax data may describe a number of frames in the respective GOP, and the frame syntax data may indicate an encoding/prediction mode used to encode the corresponding frame.

Video Encoder

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an example of a video encoder that may implement techniques in accordance with aspects described in this disclosure. Video encoder 20 may be configured to process a single layer of a video frame, such as for HEVC. Further, video encoder 20 may be configured to perform any or all of the techniques of this disclosure, including but not limited to the methods of performing inter-layer reference picture restriction described in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 4. As one example, inter-layer prediction unit 66 (when provided) may be configured to perform any or all of the techniques described in this disclosure. However, aspects of this disclosure are not so limited. In some examples, the techniques described in this disclosure may be shared among the various components of video encoder 20. In some examples, additionally or alternatively, a processor (not shown) may be configured to perform any or all of the techniques described in this disclosure.

For purposes of explanation, this disclosure describes video encoder 20 in the context of HEVC coding. However, the techniques of this disclosure may be applicable to other coding standards or methods. The encoder 20 of FIG. 2A illustrates a single layer of a codec. However, as will be described further with respect to FIG. 2B, some or all of the video encoder 20 may be duplicated for processing according to a multi-layer codec.

Video encoder 20 may perform intra-, inter-, and inter-layer prediction (sometime referred to as intra-, inter- or inter-layer coding) of video blocks within video slices. Intra coding relies on spatial prediction to reduce or remove spatial redundancy in video within a given video frame or picture. Inter-coding relies on temporal prediction to reduce or remove temporal redundancy in video within adjacent frames or pictures of a video sequence. Inter-layer coding relies on prediction based upon video within a different layer(s) within the same video coding sequence. Intra-mode (I mode) may refer to any of several spatial based coding modes. Inter-modes, such as uni-directional prediction (P mode) or bi-prediction (B mode), may refer to any of several temporal-based coding modes.

As shown in FIG. 2A, video encoder 20 receives a current video block within a video frame to be encoded. In the example of FIG. 2A, video encoder 20 includes mode select unit 40, reference frame memory (sometimes referred to as a decoded picture buffer) 64, summer 50, transform processing unit 52, quantization unit 54, and entropy encoding unit 56. Mode select unit 40, in turn, includes motion compensation unit 44, motion estimation unit 42, intra-prediction unit 46, inter-layer prediction unit 66, and partition unit 48.

For video block reconstruction, video encoder 20 also includes inverse quantization unit 58, inverse transform unit 60, and summer 62. A deblocking filter (not shown in FIG. 2A) may also be included to filter block boundaries to remove blockiness artifacts from reconstructed video. If desired, the deblocking filter would typically filter the output of summer 62. Additional filters (in loop or post loop) may also be used in addition to the deblocking filter. Such filters are not shown for brevity, but if desired, may filter the output of summer 50 (as an in-loop filter).

During the encoding process, video encoder 20 receives a video frame or slice to be coded. The frame or slice may be divided into multiple video blocks. Motion estimation unit 42 and motion compensation unit 44 perform inter-predictive coding of the received video block relative to one or more blocks in one or more reference frames to provide temporal prediction. Intra-prediction unit 46 may alternatively perform intra-predictive coding of the received video block relative to one or more neighboring blocks in the same frame or slice as the block to be coded to provide spatial prediction. Video encoder 20 may perform multiple coding passes, e.g., to select an appropriate coding mode for each block of video data.

Moreover, partition unit 48 may partition blocks of video data into sub-blocks, based on evaluation of previous partitioning schemes in previous coding passes. For example, partition unit 48 may initially partition a frame or slice into LCUs, and partition each of the LCUs into sub-CUs based on rate-distortion analysis (e.g., rate-distortion optimization, etc.). Mode select unit 40 may further produce a quadtree data structure indicative of partitioning of an LCU into sub-CUs. Leaf-node CUs of the quadtree may include one or more PUs and one or more TUs.

Mode select unit 40 may select one of the coding modes, intra, inter, or inter-layer prediction mode, e.g., based on error results, and provide the resulting intra-, inter-, or inter-layer coded block to summer 50 to generate residual block data and to summer 62 to reconstruct the encoded block for use as a reference frame. Mode select unit 40 also provides syntax elements, such as motion vectors, intra-mode indicators, partition information, and other such syntax information, to entropy encoding unit 56.

Motion estimation unit 42 and motion compensation unit 44 may be highly integrated, but are illustrated separately for conceptual purposes. Motion estimation, performed by motion estimation unit 42, is the process of generating motion vectors, which estimate motion for video blocks. A motion vector, for example, may indicate the displacement of a PU of a video block within a current video frame or picture relative to a predictive block within a reference frame (or other coded unit) relative to the current block being coded within the current frame (or other coded unit). A predictive block is a block that is found to closely match the block to be coded, in terms of pixel difference, which may be determined by sum of absolute difference (SAD), sum of square difference (SSD), or other difference metrics. In some examples, video encoder 20 may calculate values for sub-integer pixel positions of reference pictures stored in reference frame memory 64. For example, video encoder 20 may interpolate values of one-quarter pixel positions, one-eighth pixel positions, or other fractional pixel positions of the reference picture. Therefore, motion estimation unit 42 may perform a motion search relative to the full pixel positions and fractional pixel positions and output a motion vector with fractional pixel precision.

Motion estimation unit 42 calculates a motion vector for a PU of a video block in an inter-coded slice by comparing the position of the PU to the position of a predictive block of a reference picture. The reference picture may be selected from a first reference picture list (List 0) or a second reference picture list (List 1), each of which identify one or more reference pictures stored in reference frame memory 64. Motion estimation unit 42 sends the calculated motion vector to entropy encoding unit 56 and motion compensation unit 44.

Motion compensation, performed by motion compensation unit 44, may involve fetching or generating the predictive block based on the motion vector determined by motion estimation unit 42. Motion estimation unit 42 and motion compensation unit 44 may be functionally integrated, in some examples. Upon receiving the motion vector for the PU of the current video block, motion compensation unit 44 may locate the predictive block to which the motion vector points in one of the reference picture lists. Summer 50 forms a residual video block by subtracting pixel values of the predictive block from the pixel values of the current video block being coded, forming pixel difference values, as discussed below. In some embodiments, motion estimation unit 42 can perform motion estimation relative to luma components, and motion compensation unit 44 can use motion vectors calculated based on the luma components for both chroma components and luma components. Mode select unit 40 may generate syntax elements associated with the video blocks and the video slice for use by video decoder 30 in decoding the video blocks of the video slice.

Intra-prediction unit 46 may intra-predict or calculate a current block, as an alternative to the inter-prediction performed by motion estimation unit 42 and motion compensation unit 44, as described above. In particular, intra-prediction unit 46 may determine an intra-prediction mode to use to encode a current block. In some examples, intra-prediction unit 46 may encode a current block using various intra-prediction modes, e.g., during separate encoding passes, and intra-prediction unit 46 (or mode select unit 40, in some examples) may select an appropriate intra-prediction mode to use from the tested modes.

For example, intra-prediction unit 46 may calculate rate-distortion values using a rate-distortion analysis for the various tested intra-prediction modes, and select the intra-prediction mode having the best rate-distortion characteristics among the tested modes. Rate-distortion analysis generally determines an amount of distortion (or error) between an encoded block and an original, unencoded block that was encoded to produce the encoded block, as well as a bitrate (that is, a number of bits) used to produce the encoded block. Intra-prediction unit 46 may calculate ratios from the distortions and rates for the various encoded blocks to determine which intra-prediction mode exhibits the best rate-distortion value for the block.

After selecting an intra-prediction mode for a block, intra-prediction unit 46 may provide information indicative of the selected intra-prediction mode for the block to entropy encoding unit 56. Entropy encoding unit 56 may encode the information indicating the selected intra-prediction mode. Video encoder 20 may include in the transmitted bitstream configuration data, which may include a plurality of intra-prediction mode index tables and a plurality of modified intra-prediction mode index tables (also referred to as codeword mapping tables), definitions of encoding contexts for various blocks, and indications of a most probable intra-prediction mode, an intra-prediction mode index table, and a modified intra-prediction mode index table to use for each of the contexts.

The video encoder 20 may include an inter-layer prediction unit 66. Inter-layer prediction unit 66 is configured to predict a current block (e.g., a current block in the EL) using one or more different layers that are available in SVC (e.g., a base or reference layer). Such prediction may be referred to as inter-layer prediction. Inter-layer prediction unit 66 utilizes prediction methods to reduce inter-layer redundancy, thereby improving coding efficiency and reducing computational resource requirements. Some examples of inter-layer prediction include inter-layer intra prediction, inter-layer motion prediction, and inter-layer residual prediction. Inter-layer intra prediction uses the reconstruction of co-located blocks in the base layer to predict the current block in the enhancement layer. Inter-layer motion prediction uses motion information of the base layer to predict motion in the enhancement layer. Inter-layer residual prediction uses the residue of the base layer to predict the residue of the enhancement layer. When the base and enhancement layers have different spatial resolutions, spatial motion vector scaling and/or inter-layer position mapping using a temporal scaling function may be performed by the inter-layer prediction unit 66, as described in greater detail below.

Video encoder 20 forms a residual video block by subtracting the prediction data from mode select unit 40 from the original video block being coded. Summer 50 represents the component or components that perform this subtraction operation. Transform processing unit 52 applies a transform, such as a discrete cosine transform (DCT) or a conceptually similar transform, to the residual block, producing a video block comprising residual transform coefficient values. Transform processing unit 52 may perform other transforms which are conceptually similar to DCT. For example, discrete sine transforms (DST), wavelet transforms, integer transforms, sub-band transforms or other types of transforms can also be used.

Transform processing unit 52 can apply the transform to the residual block, producing a block of residual transform coefficients. The transform may convert the residual information from a pixel value domain to a transform domain, such as a frequency domain. Transform processing unit 52 may send the resulting transform coefficients to quantization unit 54. Quantization unit 54 quantizes the transform coefficients to further reduce bit rate. The quantization process may reduce the bit depth associated with some or all of the coefficients. The degree of quantization may be modified by adjusting a quantization parameter. In some examples, quantization unit 54 may then perform a scan of the matrix including the quantized transform coefficients. Alternatively, entropy encoding unit 56 may perform the scan.

Following quantization, entropy encoding unit 56 entropy encodes the quantized transform coefficients. For example, entropy encoding unit 56 may perform context adaptive variable length coding (CAVLC), context adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC), syntax-based context-adaptive binary arithmetic coding (SBAC), probability interval partitioning entropy (PIPE) coding or another entropy coding technique. In the case of context-based entropy coding, context may be based on neighboring blocks. Following the entropy coding by entropy encoding unit 56, the encoded bitstream may be transmitted to another device (e.g., video decoder 30) or archived for later transmission or retrieval.

Inverse quantization unit 58 and inverse transform unit 60 apply inverse quantization and inverse transformation, respectively, to reconstruct the residual block in the pixel domain (e.g., for later use as a reference block). Motion compensation unit 44 may calculate a reference block by adding the residual block to a predictive block of one of the frames of reference frame memory 64. Motion compensation unit 44 may also apply one or more interpolation filters to the reconstructed residual block to calculate sub-integer pixel values for use in motion estimation. Summer 62 adds the reconstructed residual block to the motion compensated prediction block produced by motion compensation unit 44 to produce a reconstructed video block for storage in reference frame memory 64. The reconstructed video block may be used by motion estimation unit 42 and motion compensation unit 44 as a reference block to inter-code a block in a subsequent video frame.

Multi-Layer Video Encoder

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an example of a multi-layer video encoder 21 that may implement techniques in accordance with aspects described in this disclosure. The video encoder 21 may be configured to process multi-layer video frames, such as for SHVC and multiview coding. Further, the video encoder 21 may be configured to perform any or all of the techniques of this disclosure.

The video encoder 21 includes a video encoder 20A and video encoder 20B, each of which may be configured as the video encoder 20 of FIG. 2A and may perform the functions described above with respect to the video encoder 20. Further, as indicated by the reuse of reference numbers, the video encoders 20A and 20B may include at least some of the systems and subsystems as the video encoder 20. Although the video encoder 21 is illustrated as including two video encoders 20A and 20B, the video encoder 21 is not limited as such and may include any number of video encoder 20 layers. In some embodiments, the video encoder 21 may include a video encoder 20 for each picture or frame in an access unit. For example, an access unit that includes five pictures may be processed or encoded by a video encoder that includes five encoder layers. In some embodiments, the video encoder 21 may include more encoder layers than frames in an access unit. In some such cases, some of the video encoder layers may be inactive when processing some access units.

In addition to the video encoders 20A and 20B, the video encoder 21 may include a resampling unit 90. The resampling unit 90 may, in some cases, upsample a base layer of a received video frame to, for example, create an enhancement layer. The resampling unit 90 may upsample particular information associated with the received base layer of a frame, but not other information. For example, the resampling unit 90 may upsample the spatial size or number of pixels of the base layer, but the number of slices or the picture order count may remain constant. In some cases, the resampling unit 90 may not process the received video and/or may be optional. For example, in some cases, the mode select unit 40 may perform upsampling. In some embodiments, the resampling unit 90 is configured to upsample a layer and reorganize, redefine, modify, or adjust one or more slices to comply with a set of slice boundary rules and/or raster scan rules. Although primarily described as upsampling a base layer, or a lower layer in an access unit, in some cases, the resampling unit 90 may downsample a layer. For example, if during streaming of a video bandwidth is reduced, a frame may be downsampled instead of upsampled. Resampling unit 90 may be further configured to perform cropping and/or padding operations, as well.

The resampling unit 90 may be configured to receive a picture or frame (or picture information associated with the picture) from the decoded picture buffer 114 of the lower layer encoder (e.g., the video encoder 20A) and to upsample the picture (or the received picture information). This upsampled picture may then be provided to the mode select unit 40 of a higher layer encoder (e.g., the video encoder 20B) configured to encode a picture in the same access unit as the lower layer encoder. In some cases, the higher layer encoder is one layer removed from the lower layer encoder. In other cases, there may be one or more higher layer encoders between the layer 0 video encoder and the layer 1 encoder of FIG. 2B.

In some cases, the resampling unit 90 may be omitted or bypassed. In such cases, the picture from the decoded picture buffer 64 of the video encoder 20A may be provided directly, or at least without being provided to the resampling unit 90, to the mode select unit 40 of the video encoder 20B. For example, if video data provided to the video encoder 20B and the reference picture from the decoded picture buffer 64 of the video encoder 20A are of the same size or resolution, the reference picture may be provided to the video encoder 20B without any resampling.

In some embodiments, the video encoder 21 downsamples video data to be provided to the lower layer encoder using the downsampling unit 94 before provided the video data to the video encoder 20A. Alternatively, the downsampling unit 94 may be a resampling unit 90 capable of upsampling or downsampling the video data. In yet other embodiments, the downsampling unit 94 may be omitted.

As illustrated in FIG. 2B, the video encoder 21 may further include a multiplexor 98, or mux. The mux 98 can output a combined bitstream from the video encoder 21. The combined bitstream may be created by taking a bitstream from each of the video encoders 20A and 20B and alternating which bitstream is output at a given time. While in some cases the bits from the two (or more in the case of more than two video encoder layers) bitstreams may be alternated one bit at a time, in many cases the bitstreams are combined differently. For example, the output bitstream may be created by alternating the selected bitstream one block at a time. In another example, the output bitstream may be created by outputting a non-1:1 ratio of blocks from each of the video encoders 20A and 20B. For instance, two blocks may be output from the video encoder 20B for each block output from the video encoder 20A. In some embodiments, the output stream from the mux 98 may be preprogrammed. In other embodiments, the mux 98 may combine the bitstreams from the video encoders 20A, 20B based on a control signal received from a system external to the video encoder 21, such as from a processor on the source device 12. The control signal may be generated based on the resolution or bitrate of a video from the video source 18, based on a bandwidth of the channel 16, based on a subscription associated with a user (e.g., a paid subscription versus a free subscription), or based on any other factor for determining a resolution output desired from the video encoder 21.

Video Decoder

FIG. 3A is a block diagram illustrating an example of a video decoder that may implement techniques in accordance with aspects described in this disclosure. The video decoder 30 may be configured to process a single layer of a video frame, such as for HEVC. Further, video decoder 30 may be configured to perform any or all of the techniques of this disclosure, including but not limited to the methods of performing inter-layer reference picture restriction described in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 4. As one example, inter-layer prediction unit 75 may be configured to perform any or all of the techniques described in this disclosure. However, aspects of this disclosure are not so limited. In some examples, the techniques described in this disclosure may be shared among the various components of video decoder 30. In some examples, additionally or alternatively, a processor (not shown) may be configured to perform any or all of the techniques described in this disclosure.

For purposes of explanation, this disclosure describes video decoder 30 in the context of HEVC coding. However, the techniques of this disclosure may be applicable to other coding standards or methods. The decoder 30 of FIG. 3A illustrates a single layer of a codec. However, as will be described further with respect to FIG. 3B, some or all of the video decoder 30 may be duplicated for processing according to a multi-layer codec. In the example of FIG. 3A, video decoder 30 includes an entropy decoding unit 70, motion compensation unit 72, intra prediction unit 74, inter-layer prediction unit 75, inverse quantization unit 76, inverse transformation unit 78, reference frame memory 82 and summer 80. In some embodiments, motion compensation unit 72 and/or intra prediction unit 74 may be configured to perform inter-layer prediction, in which case the inter-layer prediction unit 75 may be omitted. Video decoder 30 may, in some examples, perform a decoding pass generally reciprocal to the encoding pass described with respect to video encoder 20 (FIG. 2). Motion compensation unit 72 may generate prediction data based on motion vectors received from entropy decoding unit 70, while intra-prediction unit 74 may generate prediction data based on intra-prediction mode indicators received from entropy decoding unit 70.

During the decoding process, video decoder 30 receives an encoded video bitstream that represents video blocks of an encoded video slice and associated syntax elements from video encoder 20. Entropy decoding unit 70 of video decoder 30 entropy decodes the bitstream to generate quantized coefficients, motion vectors or intra-prediction mode indicators, and other syntax elements. Entropy decoding unit 70 forwards the motion vectors to and other syntax elements to motion compensation unit 72. Video decoder 30 may receive the syntax elements at the video slice level and/or the video block level.

When the video slice is coded as an intra-coded (I) slice, intra prediction unit 74 may generate prediction data for a video block of the current video slice based on a signaled intra prediction mode and data from previously decoded blocks of the current frame or picture. When the video frame is coded as an inter-coded (e.g., B, P or GPB) slice, motion compensation unit 72 produces predictive blocks for a video block of the current video slice based on the motion vectors and other syntax elements received from entropy decoding unit 70. The predictive blocks may be produced from one of the reference pictures within one of the reference picture lists. Video decoder 30 may construct the reference frame lists, List 0 and List 1, using default construction techniques based on reference pictures stored in reference frame memory (sometimes referred to as a decoded picture buffer) 92. Motion compensation unit 72 determines prediction information for a video block of the current video slice by parsing the motion vectors and other syntax elements, and uses the prediction information to produce the predictive blocks for the current video block being decoded. For example, motion compensation unit 72 uses some of the received syntax elements to determine a prediction mode (e.g., intra- or inter-prediction) used to code the video blocks of the video slice, an inter-prediction slice type (e.g., B slice, P slice, or GPB slice), construction information for one or more of the reference picture lists for the slice, motion vectors for each inter-encoded video block of the slice, inter-prediction status for each inter-coded video block of the slice, and other information to decode the video blocks in the current video slice.

Motion compensation unit 72 may also perform interpolation based on interpolation filters. Motion compensation unit 72 may use interpolation filters as used by video encoder 20 during encoding of the video blocks to calculate interpolated values for sub-integer pixels of reference blocks. In this case, motion compensation unit 72 may determine the interpolation filters used by video encoder 20 from the received syntax elements and use the interpolation filters to produce predictive blocks.

Video decoder 30 may also include an inter-layer prediction unit 75. The inter-layer prediction unit 75 is configured to predict a current block (e.g., a current block in the EL) using one or more different layers that are available in SVC (e.g., a base or reference layer). Such prediction may be referred to as inter-layer prediction. Inter-layer prediction unit 75 utilizes prediction methods to reduce inter-layer redundancy, thereby improving coding efficiency and reducing computational resource requirements. Some examples of inter-layer prediction include inter-layer intra prediction, inter-layer motion prediction, and inter-layer residual prediction. Inter-layer intra prediction uses the reconstruction of co-located blocks in the base layer to predict the current block in the enhancement layer. Inter-layer motion prediction uses motion information of the base layer to predict motion in the enhancement layer. Inter-layer residual prediction uses the residue of the base layer to predict the residue of the enhancement layer. When the base and enhancement layers have different spatial resolutions, spatial motion vector scaling and/or inter-layer position mapping may be performed by the inter-layer prediction unit 75 using a temporal scaling function, as described in greater detail below.

Inverse quantization unit 76 inverse quantizes, e.g., de-quantizes, the quantized transform coefficients provided in the bitstream and decoded by entropy decoding unit 70. The inverse quantization process may include use of a quantization parameter QPY calculated by video decoder 30 for each video block in the video slice to determine a degree of quantization and, likewise, a degree of inverse quantization that should be applied.

Inverse transform unit 78 applies an inverse transform, e.g., an inverse DCT, an inverse DST, an inverse integer transform, or a conceptually similar inverse transform process, to the transform coefficients in order to produce residual blocks in the pixel domain.

After motion compensation unit 72 generates the predictive block for the current video block based on the motion vectors and other syntax elements, video decoder 30 forms a decoded video block by summing the residual blocks from inverse transform unit 78 with the corresponding predictive blocks generated by motion compensation unit 72. Summer 90 represents the component or components that perform this summation operation. If desired, a deblocking filter may also be applied to filter the decoded blocks in order to remove blockiness artifacts. Other loop filters (either in the coding loop or after the coding loop) may also be used to smooth pixel transitions, or otherwise improve the video quality. The decoded video blocks in a given frame or picture are then stored in reference picture memory 92, which stores reference pictures used for subsequent motion compensation. Reference frame memory 82 also stores decoded video for later presentation on a display device, such as display device 32 of FIG. 1.

Multi-Layer Decoder

FIG. 3B is a block diagram illustrating an example of a multi-layer video decoder 31 that may implement techniques in accordance with aspects described in this disclosure. The video decoder 31 may be configured to process multi-layer video frames, such as for SHVC and multiview coding. Further, the video decoder 31 may be configured to perform any or all of the techniques of this disclosure.

The video decoder 31 includes a video decoder 30A and video decoder 30B, each of which may be configured as the video decoder 30 of FIG. 3A and may perform the functions described above with respect to the video decoder 30. Further, as indicated by the reuse of reference numbers, the video decoders 30A and 30B may include at least some of the systems and subsystems as the video decoder 30. Although the video decoder 31 is illustrated as including two video decoders 30A and 30B, the video decoder 31 is not limited as such and may include any number of video decoder 30 layers. In some embodiments, the video decoder 31 may include a video decoder 30 for each picture or frame in an access unit. For example, an access unit that includes five pictures may be processed or decoded by a video decoder that includes five decoder layers. In some embodiments, the video decoder 31 may include more decoder layers than frames in an access unit. In some such cases, some of the video decoder layers may be inactive when processing some access units.

In addition to the video decoders 30A and 30B, the video decoder 31 may include an upsampling unit 92. In some embodiments, the upsampling unit 92 may upsample a base layer of a received video frame to create an enhanced layer to be added to the reference picture list for the frame or access unit. This enhanced layer can be stored in the reference frame memory (decoded picture buffer) 82. In some embodiments, the upsampling unit 92 can include some or all of the embodiments described with respect to the resampling unit 90 of FIG. 2A. In some embodiments, the upsampling unit 92 is configured to upsample a layer and reorganize, redefine, modify, or adjust one or more slices to comply with a set of slice boundary rules and/or raster scan rules. In some cases, the upsampling unit 92 may be a resampling unit configured to upsample and/or downsample a layer of a received video frame

The upsampling unit 92 may be configured to receive a picture or frame (or picture information associated with the picture) from the decoded picture buffer 82 of the lower layer decoder (e.g., the video decoder 30A) and to upsample the picture (or the received picture information). This upsampled picture may then be provided to the mode select unit 71 of a higher layer decoder (e.g., the video decoder 30B) configured to decode a picture in the same access unit as the lower layer decoder. In some cases, the higher layer decoder is one layer removed from the lower layer decoder. In other cases, there may be one or more higher layer decoders between the layer 0 decoder and the layer 1 decoder of FIG. 3B.

In some cases, the upsampling unit 92 may be omitted or bypassed. In such cases, the picture from the decoded picture buffer 82 of the video decoder 30A may be provided directly, or at least without being provided to the upsampling unit 92, to the mode select unit 71 of the video decoder 30B. For example, if video data provided to the video decoder 30B and the reference picture from the decoded picture buffer 82 of the video decoder 30A are of the same size or resolution, the reference picture may be provided to the video decoder 30B without upsampling. Further, in some embodiments, the upsampling unit 92 may be a resampling unit 90 configured to upsample or downsample a reference picture received from the decoded picture buffer 82 of the video decoder 30A.

As illustrated in FIG. 3B, the video decoder 31 may further include a demultiplexor 99, or demux. The demux 99 can split an encoded video bitstream into multiple bitstreams with each bitstream output by the demux 99 being provided to a different video decoder 30A and 30B. The multiple bitstreams may be created by receiving a bitstream and each of the video decoders 30A and 30B receives a portion of the bitstream at a given time. While in some cases the bits from the bitstream received at the demux 99 may be alternated one bit at a time between each of the video decoders (e.g., video decoders 30A and 30B in the example of FIG. 3B), in many cases the bitstream is divided differently. For example, the bitstream may be divided by alternating which video decoder receives the bitstream one block at a time. In another example, the bitstream may be divided by a non-1:1 ratio of blocks to each of the video decoders 30A and 30B. For instance, two blocks may be provided to the video decoder 30B for each block provided to the video decoder 30A. In some embodiments, the division of the bitstream by the demux 99 may be preprogrammed. In other embodiments, the demux 99 may divide the bitstream based on a control signal received from a system external to the video decoder 31, such as from a processor on the destination device 14. The control signal may be generated based on the resolution or bitrate of a video from the input interface 28, based on a bandwidth of the channel 16, based on a subscription associated with a user (e.g., a paid subscription versus a free subscription), or based on any other factor for determining a resolution obtainable by the video decoder 31.

Single Reference Layer Picture Restrictions

In various embodiments described below, restrictions on an encoding or decoding process are provided such that at most one reference layer picture can be used as an inter-layer reference picture to encode or decode a current picture in SHVC. With such restrictions, advantageously, only up to one picture resampling process is needed to decode the current picture. The following embodiments provide such restrictions to the scalable video coding extension of high efficiency video coding (SHVC), including, reference index based SHVC (which utilize only high level syntax changes).

1.1. Signaling Reference Layer in Slice Header

In one embodiment, a syntax element that identifies a reference layer of the current slice (e.g., reference_layer_id) is signaled in slice header. Indeed, the reference layer ID indicates the at most one inter-layer reference picture to be used for inter-layer prediction to predict the current EL picture. Such information is provided in addition to existing VPS syntax. For example, the video parameter set (VPS) includes syntax that indicates all of pictures that may be used as reference pictures. However, according to the present embodiment, additional information may be signaled at the slice level to further refine inter-layer reference picture set derivation. Indeed, at the slice level the at most one picture (e.g., zero or one picture) of the VPS-identified pictures that may be used as a reference picture for inter-layer prediction. A bitstream conforming restriction is provided that requires that the reference_layer_id for all slices of a coded picture must be identical. In one embodiment, this syntax can be signaled in a picture parameter set (PPS). The syntax element reference_layer_id_plus1 may be signaled to indicate the reference layer identification of the current picture being coded (encoded or decoded). In such case, reference layer identification (e.g., the value of reference_layer_id) can be derived as:

reference_layer_id=reference_layer_id_plus1−1

The variable reference_layer_id equal to −1 indicates the inter-layer prediction is disabled for the current slice.

In another embodiment, the syntax element reference_layer_id_delta is signaled in a slice header. In such case, the value of reference_layer_id can be derived as:

reference_layer_id = reference_layer_id_delta ? currLayerId − reference_layer_id_delta : − 1 In such embodiment, the variable currLayerId is set equal to nuh_layer_id of the current decoded picture.

In addition, a flag slice_header_reference_layer_id_present_flag (or PPS_reference_layer_id_present_flag) may be signaled in a sequence parameter set (SPS) or video parameter set (VPS) to control the presence of the syntax for reference_layer_id in the slice header (or picture parameter set (PPS)).

The variable reference_layer_id specifies that the reference layer picture with reference_layer_id_plus1 is the only reference layer picture for the current layer picture. The value of reference_layer_id is set to −1 when the current picture nuh_layer_id is equal to zero.

When syntax for reference_layer_id is not present in slice header, it can be derived as follows:

reference_layer_id = −1; for( j = currLayerId − 1; j >=0; j−− ) {  if (direct_dependency_flag[ i ][ j ])  {   reference_layer_id = j   break;  } }

The syntax direct_dependency_flag[i][j] is currently signaled at a video parameter set (VPS) level for a coded bit stream sequence. However the value of the direct layer dependency flag for each temporal sub-layer or each access unit could be further modified or refined by including additional syntax and/or process information, such as syntax that indicates the discarded layer component. In such case, the refined dependency flags may be used to derive the following variables specifying inter-layer reference pictures. The variable refined_direct_dependency_flag[i][j] can represent the direct dependency between layers within one temporal sub-layer or one access unit. In one embodiment, the value of refined_direct_dependency_flag[i][j] is initially set equal to direct_dependency_flag[i][j]. The value of refined_direct_dependency_flag[i][j] could also be further modified by checking the availability of the reference layer picture in the current temporal sub-layer or access unit. For example, when the current temporal sub-layer or access unit does not contain the picture with nuh_layer_id equal j, the value of refined_direct_dependency_flag[i][j] is set to 0, for j=0 to vps_max_layers_minus1, inclusively.

When syntax for reference_layer_id is not present in the slice header, it could also be derived as follows by using refined_direct_dependency_flag:

reference_layer_id = −1; for( j = currLayerId − 1; j >=0; j−− ) {  if (refined_direct_dependency_flag[ i ][ j ])  {   reference_layer_id = j   break;  } }

In one embodiment, the value of reference_layer_id is further modified by further checking the availability of the reference layer picture in the current access unit. Reference_layer_id is set equal to −1 when the current access unit does not contain a picture with nuh_layer_id equal reference_layer_id.

To derive the inter-layer reference picture set RefPicSetInterLayer for the current picture, the direct dependent layer flags for current picture can be derived by setting refined_direct_dependency_flag[currLayerId][reference_layer_id] equal to 1 and all others equal to 0, and the above mentioned construction process is used with the variable direct_dependency_flag replaced by refined_direct_dependency_flag.

Alternatively, the inter-layer reference picture set RefPicSetInterLayer of SHVC can be derived as follows, using reference_layer_id:

NumDirectRefLayers[ LayerIdInVps[ currLayerId ] ] = 0; if (reference_layer_id != −1) {  NumDirectRefLayers[ LayerIdInVps[ currLayerId ] ] = 1  rlPic = the picture with picture order count equal to PicOrderCnt and   nuh_layer_id equal to reference_layer_id  RefPicSetInterLayer[ 0 ] = rsPic as derived in by the clause G.8.1.4 with rlPic given as input  rsPic is marked as “used for long-term reference” } where G.8.1.4 is the Resampling process for inter-layer reference pictures according to the current SHVC draft specification.

Alternatively, the flag slice_header_reference_layer_id_present_flag (or PPS_reference_layer_id_present_flag) is signaled in the SPS or VPS to indicate whether the value of direct_dependency_flag will be refined. When the slice_header_reference_layer_id_present_flag (or PPS_reference_layer_id_present_flag) is equal to 0, the value of refined_direct_dependency_flag[currLayerId][j] is set equal to direct_dependency_flag[currLayerId] [j] for j=0 to j−1, inclusively and will not be further refined by the syntax described above.

1.2. Flag Signaling in Picture Parameter Set or Slice Header

In this embodiment, refined_direct_dependency_flag[nuh_layer][j] is signaled in the picture parameter set (PPS) or slice header to indicate the reference layer pictures of the current picture or slice.

for( j = 0; j < currLayerId ; j++ )  if (direct_dependency_flag[ currLayerId ][ j ])   refined_direct_dependency_flag[ currLayerId ][ j ] u(1)

A flag slice_header_direct_dependency_flag_present_flag (or PPS_direct_dependency_present_flag) is signaled in a sequence parameter set (SPS) or video parameter set (VPS) to indicate the presence of the refined_direct_dependency_flag. For example, when slice_header_direct_dependency_flag_present_flag (or PPS_direct_dependency_flag_present_flag) is equal to 0, the value of refined_direct_dependency_flag[currLayerId][j] is set equal to direct_dependency_flag[currLayerId][j] for j=0 to j−1, inclusively.

1.3. Syntax Element Bit Stream Conforming Restriction

In one embodiment, a bit stream conforming restriction on the syntax element direct_dependency_flag[i][j] is provided. For each layer component with nuh_layer_id equal to i, at most one flag of all direct_dependency_flag[i][j] flags with j=0 to i−1 inclusively, is allowed to be 1.

As mentioned above, the value of the direct layer dependency flags could be further refined by certain additional syntax. For example, the restriction could be, for each layer component with nuh_layer_id equal to i in one temporal sub-layer or one access unit, at most one flag among all refined_direct_dependency_flag[i][j] flags with j=0 to i−1 inclusively, is allowed to be 1.

1.4. Inter-Layer Reference Picture Set Construction

In this embodiment, the construction process of the inter-layer reference picture set RefPicSetInterLayer of SHVC is changed such that only one inter-layer reference picture among all reference layer pictures indicated by RefLayerId[i][j] is added to RefPicSetInterLayer.

In one embodiment, only the first picture among all reference layer pictures indicated by RefLayerId[i][j] is used to generate the resampled inter-layer reference picture and added to inter-layer reference layer picture set. The following method may be used to derive RefPicSetInterLayer:

for( i = 0; i < Min ( 1, NumDirectRefLayers[ LayerIdInVps[ currLayerId ] ]); i++ ) {  rlPic = the picture with picture order count equal to PicOrderCnt and   nuh_layer_id equal to RefLayerId[ LayerIdInVps[ currLayerId ][   i ] ]  RefPicSetInterLayer[ i ] = rsPic as derived in by the clause G.8.1.4 with rlPic given as input  rsPic is marked as “used for long-term reference”  NumDirectRefLayers[ LayerIdInVps[ currLayerId ] ] = 1 } where G.8.1.4 is the resampling process for inter-layer reference pictures.

In another embodiment, the reference layer picture whose layer ID is closest to the current layer is used to generate the resampled inter-layer reference picture and added to inter-layer reference layer picture set. In the current working draft, such inter-layer reference picture in the array RefLayerId is indicated RefLayerId [LayerIdInVps[currLayerId]][NumDirectRefLayers[LayerIdInVps[currLayerId]−1]]. Therefore, the following method can be used to derive RefPicSetInterLayer:

if(NumDirectRefLayers[ LayerIdInVps[ currLayerId ] >0 ) {  rlPic = the picture with picture order count equal to PicOrderCnt and   nuh_layer_id equal to RefLayerId[ LayerIdInVps[ currLayerId ][ LayerIdInVps[ currLayerId ] −1 ] ]  RefPicSetInterLayer[ i ] = rsPic as derived in by the clause G.8.1.4 with rlPic given as input  rsPic is marked as “used for long-term reference”  NumDirectRefLayers[ LayerIdInVps[ currLayerId ] ] = 1  Break; } where G.8.1.4 is the Resampling process for inter-layer reference pictures.

As described in the embodiments above, a flag may be used to indicate that at most one inter-layer reference picture is used, regardless of whether resampling is to be used or not. However, it would also be advantageous to provide a restriction that allows at most one resampled reference layer picture to be used as the reference picture to predict the current picture during inter-layer prediction.

1.5. Resampled Reference Layer Picture Restriction

In this embodiment, a bit stream conforming restriction is provided such that at most one resampled reference layer picture is used as the reference picture for the current picture. For example, at most one resampled reference layer picture is finally present in the reference picture lists of all slices belonging to the current picture.

1.6. Slice Level Direct Dependent Layer (DDL) Flag Signaling to Override Video Parameter Set DDL Flags

In this embodiment, the slice level direct dependent layer flags are signaled to override the original direct dependent layer flags that are currently indicated in the VPS. The following syntax is signaled in slice header to indicate the reference layer picture of the current slice:

if ( direct_dependency_override_enabled_flag )  for( j = LayerIdInVps[ nuh_layer_id ] − 1; j >= 0; j− − )   if(direct_dependency_flag[LayerIdInVps[nuh_layer_id] ][ j])

slice_direct_dependency_flag[LayerIdInVps[nuh_layer_id]][j] u(1)

The syntax element direct_dependency_override_enabled_flag is signaled in SPS to control the presence of the slice_direct_dependency_flag[i][j] syntax element at slice header. In one embodiment, it is required to have a bit stream conforming restriction that only one flag among all slice_direct_dependency_flag[LayerIdInVps[nuh_layer_id]][j], with j being 0 to LayerIdInVps[nuh_layer_id]−1 is equal to 1.

When reference layer information is not explicitly indicated in the slice header, the nearest reference layer picture is used as the inter-layer reference if more than one reference layer pictures are present. For this purpose, the values of slice_direct_dependency_flag[i][j] are derived as follows:

-   -   currLayerIdx=LayerIdInVps[nuh_layer_id]

The flag slice_direct_dependency_flag[currLayerIdx][j] is set equal to 0 for j being 0 to currLayerIdx, inclusively. For example:

j = currLayerIdx − 1 while ( direct_dependency_flag[ currLayerIdx ][ j+1] == 0 && j >= 0){   slice_direct_dependency_flag[ currLayerIdx ][ j ] =     direct_dependency_flag[ currLayerIdx ]][ j]   j−− }

For example, the variables NumDirectRefLayers[currLayerIdx] and RefLayerId[currLayerIdx][j] are derived as follows (and therefore, the derivation process of these two variables in the VPS semantics is removed):

for( j = 0, NumDirectRefLayers[ currLayerIdx ] = 0; j < currLayerIdx; j++ ) if( slice_direct_dependency_flag[ currLayerIdx ][ j ] = = 1 )  RefLayerId[ i ][ NumDirectRefLayers[ currLayerIdx ]++ ] = layer_id_in_nuh[ j ]

In other embodiments, additional bit stream conforming restrictions are provided. For example, in one embodiment, when slice_direct_dependency_flag[LayerIdInVps[nuh_layer_id]][j] is equal to 1, a coded picture with layer index being j shall be present in the current access unit (AU). This avoids a non-existing inter-layer reference picture being used for inter-layer prediction. In another embodiment, all slices that belong to one coded picture shall have the same slice_direct_dependency_flag values.

Single Reference Layer Picture with Different Spatial Resolution

In one embodiment, a restriction is provided such that at most one reference layer picture with different spatial resolution to the current picture may be used as the inter-layer reference picture to decode the current picture in SHVC. In this manner, only up to one picture resampling process is needed to decode the current picture. Any of the embodiments mentioned above could be applied or extended for (e.g., adapted to further include) this restriction.

In one alternative, the coding system is configured to restrict such that at most one filtered reference layer picture could be used as the inter-layer reference picture to decode the current picture. For example, there would be no restriction on the inter-layer reference picture for which the filtering process is not applied.

Inter-Layer Reference Picture Restriction—at Most One Reference Layer Picture Used as an ILRP

FIG. 4 illustrates one embodiment of a method of restricting inter-layer reference prediction that may be performed by the video encoder 20 of FIG. 2A, the video encoder 20A, 20B, and/or 21 of FIG. 2B, the video decoder 30 of FIG. 3A, and/or the video decoder 30A, 30B, and/or 31 of FIG. 3B. The method 400 may be performed by any one or more of the motion estimation unit 42, motion compensation unit 44, intra prediction unit 46, and inter-layer prediction unit 66 of the video encoder 20 of FIG. 2A or 2B. In another embodiment, the method 400 may be performed by any one or more of the motion compensation unit 72, intra prediction unit 74, and inter-layer prediction unit 75 of the decoder of FIG. 3A or 3B.

The method 400 begins at block 410. At block 420, a restriction is provided that at most one reference layer picture (e.g., zero or one reference picture) may be used as an inter-layer reference picture to perform inter-layer prediction of the current picture. For example, any of the techniques described above may be used to provide such restriction.

At block 430, the at most one reference layer to be used for inter-layer prediction is identified. For example, the at most one reference layer to be used for inter-layer prediction is identified using any of the techniques described above. At block 440 the current picture is predicted using the at most one reference layer. For example, the current picture is predicted using high level syntax-only inter-layer prediction.

Inter-Layer Reference Picture Restriction—at Most One Resampled Reference Layer Picture Used as an ILRP

FIG. 5 illustrates another embodiment of a method of restricting inter-layer reference prediction that may be performed by the video encoder 20 of FIG. 2A, the video encoder 20A, 20B, and/or 21 of FIG. 2B, the video decoder 30 of FIG. 3A, and/or the video decoder 30A, 30B, and/or 31 of FIG. 3B. The method 500 may be performed by any one or more of the motion estimation unit 42, motion compensation unit 44, intra prediction unit 46, and inter-layer prediction unit 66 of the video encoder 20 of FIG. 2A or 2B. In another embodiment, the method 500 may be performed by any one or more of the motion compensation unit 72, intra prediction unit 74, and inter-layer prediction unit 75 of the decoder of FIG. 3A or 3B.

The method 500 begins at block 510. At block 520, a restriction is provided that at most one resampled reference layer picture (e.g., zero or one resampled reference layer picture) may be used as an inter-layer reference picture to perform inter-layer prediction of the current picture. In this manner, only up to one resampled reference layer picture may be finally present in the reference picture lists of all slices belonging to and associated with the current picture. Any of the techniques described above may be used to provide such restriction.

At block 530, the at most one reference layer picture having a different spatial resolution than the current picture and that is to be used for inter-layer prediction is identified. For example, the at most one reference layer picture having a different spatial resolution than the current picture and that is to be used for inter-layer prediction is identified using any of the techniques described above. At block 540 the current picture is predicted using the at most one reference layer picture. For example, the current picture is predicted using high level syntax-only inter-layer prediction.

Inter-Layer Reference Picture Restriction—at Most One Reference Layer Picture Having Different Spatial Resolution Used as an ILRP

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment of a method of restricting inter-layer reference prediction that may be performed by the video encoder 20 of FIG. 2A, the video encoder 20A, 20B, and/or 21 of FIG. 2B, the video decoder 30 of FIG. 3A, and/or the video decoder 30A, 30B, and/or 31 of FIG. 3B. The method 600 may be performed by any one or more of the motion estimation unit 42, motion compensation unit 44, intra prediction unit 46, and inter-layer prediction unit 66 of the video encoder 20 of FIG. 2A or 2B. In another embodiment, the method 600 may be performed by any one or more of the motion compensation unit 72, intra prediction unit 74, and inter-layer prediction unit 75 of the decoder of FIG. 3A or 3B.

The method 600 begins at block 610. At block 620, a restriction is provided that at most one reference layer picture (e.g., zero or one reference layer picture) having a different spatial resolution than the current picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture to perform inter-layer prediction of the current picture. In this manner, only up to one picture resampling process may be required to code (encode or decode) the current picture. Optionally, a further restriction may be applied such that only at most one reference layer picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture for inter-layer prediction (e.g., as described above with respect to FIG. 4). Any of the techniques described above may be used to provide such restrictions.

At block 630, the at most one reference layer picture having a different spatial resolution than the current picture and that is to be used for inter-layer prediction is identified. For example, the at most one reference layer picture having a different spatial resolution than the current picture and that is to be used for inter-layer prediction is identified using any of the techniques described above. At block 640 the current picture is predicted using the at most one reference layer picture. For example, the current picture is predicted using high level syntax-only inter-layer prediction.

TERMINOLOGY

While the above disclosure has described particular embodiments, many variations are possible. For example, as mentioned above, the above techniques may be applied to 3D video encoding. In some embodiments of 3D video, a reference layer (e.g., a base layer) includes video information sufficient to display a first view of a video and the enhancement layer includes additional video information relative to the reference layer such that the reference layer and the enhancement layer together include video information sufficient to display a second view of the video. These two views can used to generate a stereoscopic image. As discussed above, motion information from the reference layer can be used to identify additional implicit hypothesis when encoding or decoding a video unit in the enhancement layer, in accordance with aspects of the disclosure. This can provide greater coding efficiency for a 3D video bitstream.

It is to be recognized that depending on the example, certain acts or events of any of the techniques described herein can be performed in a different sequence, may be added, merged, or left out altogether (e.g., not all described acts or events are necessary for the practice of the techniques). Moreover, in certain examples, acts or events may be performed concurrently, e.g., through multi-threaded processing, interrupt processing, or multiple processors, rather than sequentially.

Information and signals disclosed herein may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present invention.

The techniques described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. Such techniques may be implemented in any of a variety of devices such as general purposes computers, wireless communication device handsets, or integrated circuit devices having multiple uses including application in wireless communication device handsets and other devices. Any features described as modules or components may be implemented together in an integrated logic device or separately as discrete but interoperable logic devices. If implemented in software, the techniques may be realized at least in part by a computer-readable data storage medium comprising program code including instructions that, when executed, performs one or more of the methods described above. The computer-readable data storage medium may form part of a computer program product, which may include packaging materials. The computer-readable medium may comprise memory or data storage media, such as random access memory (RAM) such as synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), read-only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), FLASH memory, magnetic or optical data storage media, and the like. The techniques additionally, or alternatively, may be realized at least in part by a computer-readable communication medium that carries or communicates program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed, read, and/or executed by a computer, such as propagated signals or waves.

The program code may be executed by a processor, which may include one or more processors, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), general purpose microprocessors, an application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable logic arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuitry. Such a processor may be configured to perform any of the techniques described in this disclosure. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor; but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Accordingly, the term “processor,” as used herein may refer to any of the foregoing structure, any combination of the foregoing structure, or any other structure or apparatus suitable for implementation of the techniques described herein. In addition, in some aspects, the functionality described herein may be provided within dedicated software modules or hardware modules configured for encoding and decoding, or incorporated in a combined video encoder-decoder (CODEC).

Various embodiments of the invention have been described. These and other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus configured to code video information, the apparatus comprising: a memory unit configured to store reference layer pictures associated with a reference layer, an enhancement layer, or both; and a processor operationally coupled to the memory unit and configured to restrict usage of at most one reference layer pictures that has a different spatial resolution than a current picture as an inter-layer reference picture, and predict the current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to allow only up to one resampling process to be performed to predict the current picture.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to provide the restriction as a bit stream conforming restriction.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to signal a syntax element indicating a reference layer identification in a slice header, wherein the reference layer identification indicates the reference layer picture to be used as the inter-layer reference picture.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to signal a syntax element indicating a reference layer identification in a picture parameter set (PPS), wherein the reference layer identification indicates the reference layer picture to be used as the inter-layer reference picture.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to restrict usage of at most one reference layer picture as an inter-layer reference picture by signaling a refined flag that indicates the reference layer pictures of the current picture of slice.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to restrict usage of at most one reference layer picture as an inter-layer reference picture by providing a bit stream conforming restriction on a syntax element associated with a direct dependency flag, wherein the direct dependency flag indicates whether a picture associated with the reference layer is a reference picture of the enhancement layer.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to restrict usage of at most one reference layer picture as an inter-layer reference picture by using only the reference layer picture having a layer ID closest to a layer ID of the current picture.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to predict the current picture by encoding the current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to predict the current picture by decoding the current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a device selected from the group consisting of one or more of: a digital television, a digital direct broadcast system, a wireless broadcast system, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, an e-book reader, a digital camera, a digital recording device, a digital media player, a video gaming device, a video game console, a cellular telephone, a satellite radio telephones, a smart phone, a video teleconferencing device, and a video streaming device
 12. A method of decoding video information, the method comprising: providing a restriction that at most one reference layer picture having a different spatial resolution than a current picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture; determining the at most one reference layer picture to use as the inter-layer reference picture; and decoding a current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.
 13. The method of claim 12, further comprising allowing only up to one resampling process to be performed to predict the current picture.
 14. The method of claim 12, further comprising providing the restriction as a bit stream conforming restriction.
 15. The method of claim 12, further comprising signaling a syntax element indicating a reference layer identification in a slice header, wherein the reference layer identification indicates the reference layer picture to be used as the inter-layer reference picture.
 16. The method of claim 12, further comprising signaling a syntax element indicating a reference layer identification in a picture parameter set (PPS), wherein the reference layer identification indicates the reference layer picture to be used as the inter-layer reference picture.
 17. The method of claim 12, further comprising restricting usage of at most one reference layer picture as an inter-layer reference picture by signaling a refined flag that indicates the reference layer pictures of the current picture of slice.
 18. The method of claim 12, further comprising restricting usage of at most one reference layer picture as an inter-layer reference picture by providing a bit stream conforming restriction on a syntax element associated with a direct dependency flag, wherein the direct dependency flag indicates whether a picture associated with the reference layer is a reference picture of the enhancement layer.
 19. The method of claim 12, further comprising restricting usage of at most one reference layer picture as an inter-layer reference picture by using only the reference layer picture having a layer ID closest to a layer ID of the current picture.
 20. A method of encoding video information, the method comprising: providing a restriction that at most one resampled reference layer picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture; determining the at most one reference layer picture to use as the inter-layer reference picture; and encoding a current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.
 21. The method of claim 20, further comprising allowing only up to one resampling process to be performed to predict the current picture.
 22. The method of claim 20, further comprising providing the restriction as a bit stream conforming restriction.
 23. The method of claim 20, further comprising signaling a syntax element indicating a reference layer identification in a slice header, wherein the reference layer identification indicates the reference layer picture to be used as the inter-layer reference picture.
 24. The method of claim 20, further comprising signaling a syntax element indicating a reference layer identification in a picture parameter set (PPS), wherein the reference layer identification indicates the reference layer picture to be used as the inter-layer reference picture.
 25. The method of claim 20, further comprising restricting usage of at most one reference layer picture as an inter-layer reference picture by signaling a refined flag that indicates the reference layer pictures of the current picture of slice.
 26. The method of claim 20, further comprising restricting usage of at most one reference layer picture as an inter-layer reference picture by providing a bit stream conforming restriction on a syntax element associated with a direct dependency flag, wherein the direct dependency flag indicates whether a picture associated with the reference layer is a reference picture of the enhancement layer.
 27. The method of claim 20, further comprising restricting usage of at most one reference layer picture as an inter-layer reference picture by using only the reference layer picture having a layer ID closest to a layer ID of the current picture.
 28. An apparatus for coding video information, the apparatus comprising: means for providing a restriction that at most one reference layer picture having a different spatial resolution than a current picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture; means for determining the at most one reference layer picture to use as the inter-layer reference picture; and means for predicting the current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.
 29. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising means for allowing only up to one resampling process to be performed to predict the current picture.
 30. The apparatus of claim 28, further comprising means for signaling a syntax element indicating a reference layer identification in a slice header, wherein the reference layer identification indicates the reference layer picture to be used as the inter-layer reference picture.
 31. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising specific instructions that when executed on a processor comprising computing hardware cause the processor to: provide a restriction that at most one reference layer picture having a different spatial resolution than a current picture may be used as an inter-layer reference picture; determine the at most one reference layer picture to use as the inter-layer reference picture; and predict the current picture using inter-layer prediction and the inter-layer reference picture.
 32. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the instruction further cause the processor to allow only up to one resampling process to be performed to predict the current picture.
 33. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 31, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to signal a syntax element indicating a reference layer identification in a slice header, wherein the reference layer identification indicates the reference layer picture to be used as the inter-layer reference picture. 